Them!
A giant ant colony has taken over the world!
The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.
What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together.
Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.
These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.
In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the 'Californian large', extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.
Yikes! Time to stock up on flamethrowers!
The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.
What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together.
Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.
These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.
In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the 'Californian large', extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.
Yikes! Time to stock up on flamethrowers!
Labels: ant colony, them
posted by dubjay at 1:09 AM
2 Comments:
I was photographing some of our local orchids the other day and realised (too late!) that I was lying in an ant's nest. I thought, "I didn't know English ants could bite like this ... ouch!!). Perhaps they were Argentine ...?!
Omygosh!
It turns out that the bipedal creatures with opposable thumbs who live on the different continents of the world ARE ALL RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER!
While the creatures which have spread across every continent look different from each other, it turns out that they can communicate among each other, interact, and even produce offspring!
The creatures have spread like a plague until they inhabit every continent, including Antarctica.
They appear to take over as the dominant life form wherever they reside.
THEY'RE TAKING OVER THE WORLD!
AIEEE!
--Kathy H.
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